Monday, December 22, 2008

Wowee... what a crazy couple of weeks it's been!! But of course the highlight for me would have to be Create 08 with Heidi Swapp!!!!! Mel, Leanne and I has such a FANTASTIC time!! (Had a gorgeous bunch of ladies at our table too!) The retailer's night on the Friday night was great... we learned some new techniques, and made a banner (mine's now hanging in my scraproom - love it!) and then Saturday was a full-on day of inspiration and creating! We completed a few pages of our 2009 calendar, then put together a really cool mirror book mini album. (I can't wait to get back into finishing them off after Christmas is over.) Heidi was wonderful and so down to earth -a lot of fun and so inspiring! She took the time to chat with everyone and her and Chanel made sure we all had a great day. We came away from there totally re-energised with heaps of new techniques and ideas... and some really cool projects to finish off. We managed to snap a few photos in amongst it all...these ones were taken on the Friday night on Mel's camera...

After Create 08, I had to totally shift my focus into Christmas mode again... (pretty hard since all I wanted to do was get in there and scrap! LOL) How crazy are the shopping centres!!?!! Thankfully I'm all done with shopping now... plus I've finished all my handmade gifts and all I have to do now is finish off my wrapping! Phew! It's all kept me flat out busy (which is why my blog has been so neglected lately... sorry about that!).. but at least now the pressure is off and I'm really looking forward to Christmas Day! We're heading up to Mum and Dad's place for the day.. should be fun! The kids cannot wait and have been counting down the days!

I've got a little bit of creating to share. No layouts I'm afraid (haven't had time!) but I did make these little Christmas ornaments using the Basic Grey chipboard ornaments and Imaginisce Snowy Jo papers...

Here are a couple of Christmas cards I made using my fave Darkroom Door stamps...

(I've just realised that since I took this photo I've actually added a little red & white check ribbon to each reindeer's neck... it finished them off nicely.)

I've also been sewing little handmade gifts. I can't share them all just yet as a couple of friends haven't seen theirs yet... but I did make a few of these little fabric baskets and filled them with yummy biscuits and chocolates for a few workmates...

They were so easy to make and I found the pattern here via Melissa Goodsell's blog. If you need a last minute gift give it a go! Seriously... they don't take long to make and they're really cute!

If any of you have kids and you haven't had time to post a letter to Santa this year, then check out www.emailsanta.com . It's fantastic! You get a response straight away and the kids just love it! Check it out for yourself.

Oh... and before I go I want to say a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Cherie since it's her birthday today! (Hope you get totally spoiled!!!!)

And to all of you who pop in to read my little blog from time to time and to those of you who leave a comment to brighten my day, I wish you all (and your families) a wonderful, safe and Merry Christmas!!! (I truly love that you take the time to visit!!) I hope you have a day full of family, fun and relaxation... and that Santa brings you something nice!

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Christmas sure is coming up fast! How is everyone going with preparations? I'm getting there slowly but surely. At least I've got the kids' prezzies sorted so that's one big thing out of the way!

We started December by putting up the tree and decorations on the 1st. We waited until Ayden got home from school then we put on some Christmas music and got right into it. The kids had so much fun going through the decorations box and putting them on the tree. (Why is it though that kids like to put 10 decorations all on the one branch? LOL) We had to wait until it got dark for the lights to go on...I managed to snap this pic of the kids as they ooh'd and ahh'd at the pretty lights...We had Ayden's school Christmas concert on Thursday afternoon and thankfully the rain held off for them! Ayden's class sang "Aussie Jingle Bells" and it was so fun to watch. Ayden had been practicing for weeks at home! They all had to wear a singlet, shorts and thongs (very Aussie!) and something Christmassy on their heads... Ayden chose reindeer antlers... very cute!

I finally sat down and made some Christmas cards over the last couple of days using my favourite new Darkroom Door stamps...

How cute are those reindeer?! Once I've sent my cards out I'll share what I did with them...

I'm also attempting to do a December Daily album in amongst everything else! You can read all about it here on Ali Edwards' blog. I know a lot of you are doing one too and I'm looking forward to seeing how your albums progress! Since I'm not printing my photos at home (I prefer the shop printed quality) I'll share some of my pages once I've got them done. Just didn't have time this weekend.

I do have a couple of layouts to share though. These have appeared in Scrapbooking Memories a couple of months back...

The first one I actually did last year! Sorry about the dodgy pic... looks a little crooked... but it was just too lumpy to scan with those ribbon flowers. This photo was taken the first time Madi felt grass beneath her feet.

It's a bit hard to see the detail on the next one, but the butterfly wings were cut away from the paper and pop-dotted off the page to add dimension. I backed it with black cardstock to give a shadowy effect.

I received this lovely blog award recently by these gorgeous gals - Belinda, Leanne, Leeanne and Nic. (Thankyou so much girls! I love that you drop by from time to time!)

The rules are...

1. The winner may put the logo on their blog.

2. Put a link to the person who sent you the award.

3. Nominate 5 blogs.

4. Put links to their blogs.

5. Leave a message for your nominees.

So now it's my turn to pass it on. Well, there are so many blogs I could list here... it's hard to narrow it down to 5! So........If you have time go and check out the following blogs. I pop in quite often. I love them because every one of them if full of inspiration... and they're fabulous ladies too...

We've got another busy week ahead... and it's Ayden's last week at school! He'll be finding out who his new teacher and classmates will be for 2009, there'll be a class Christmas party and all sorts of fun to finish off the year. It should be good!

Looks like we're in for another storm here this afternoon. They seem to have been non-stop over the past few weeks here in SE Qld. We had a big booming light show here last night right on the kids bedtime... needless to say it took them a while to drop off to sleep!

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Wow, what a gorgeous day we had here today on the Gold Coast! The sun was shining with a lovely light breeze... perfect for our Prep Christmas party at the park! I have to say that the two mums who organised everything did such an amazing job. There was a jumping castle for the kids, heaps of yummy food, a Santa pinata, cricket, totem tennis and then Santa came and handed out some fantastic goodie bags to each and every child! We finished the day off with a huge cake. Needless to say the kids all had THE BEST time.

We were a little worried about the weather yesterday as it was overcast and rainy all day, but thankfully it was all good today!

There was yet another birthday in our house this week... this time it was Paul's turn. It was a shame he had to work and didn't get home until late but we still managed to squeeze a birthday cake in.Now for a little scrapping.... Last night I actually made myself sit down and finally make my Kaiser Christmas countdown tree. I've had it sitting around since before last Christmas... just didn't have time last year and had forgotten all about it until recently. It's very much based on the one that Sandra made at the shop last year... I loved the papers she used so grabbed some for myself at the time. Can you believe it's only 25 days until the big day? It's creeping up way too fast!

While I'm sharing... here are my two layout examples from Wednesday's Scrap-a-Sketch class at Sunbird.

That will have to do for today! It's time to get the kids into bed... then maybe I'll be able to get a little more scrapping done.... crossing my fingers! Hope everyone has had a great weekend!

Sheree xx

ps. I've been lucky enough to be given a blog award by a few gorgeous girls.... thank you so much girls! I'll include that in my next post. :)

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Ooops... I can't believe I left it that long between blogposts! Sorry! So here's a quick catch-up on what we've been up to lately....

First of all, here are last week's Scrap-a-Sketch layouts...

On Friday when I picked Ayden up from school we found out that he had received his 4th award for the year at assembly that morning! We're sooooo disappointed that we missed seeing him get it... but noone had told us otherwise we would've been there (camera in hand of course)! Anyway... we took a photo when he got home. This award was for being kind, caring and considerate. We're just so proud of our little man!

We just had our parent/teacher interview for the end of the year and we were so happy to get such a great report. He's done so well this year at Prep! Now he's looking forward to Grade 1 next year... we just wish he could have the same teacher! We couldn't have asked for a more wonderful teacher to start off his schooling and we're going to miss her...

Anyway, other than that it's just been birthday parties, work, Christmas shopping, etc... I'm sure you're all busy doing the same sorts of things! I'll be back in a couple of days with some more scrapping to share. Until then take care!

Friday, November 14, 2008

I know it's still November but I can feel Christmas coming on! It really is my favourite time of year and I've been getting all inspired to start making all sorts of things from reading blogs, and of course, signing up to Kim Archer's Jingle Bells workshop! I did Kim's Christmas workshop last year and I absolutely LOVED it! She comes up so many great ideas for gift giving and decorating... and it's lots of fun. If you've never done it before head on over and have a look at Kim's site. I can't wait to get started...just gotta gather some supplies...

I've got two layouts to share from my Scrap-a-Sketch class over at Sunbird Scrapbooking today. I had a bit of fun with these and used a few techniques that I hadn't done in while.(I can't believe how little Madi is in these photos! She's grown soooo much since then...)

I had a go at making these flowers. (Don't know why I've never done them before... they were soooo easy!) Also used my fave Pink Paislee butterfly stamp...

A bit of watermark stamping on this one... haven't done that in AGES!

On the home front, we had the pleasure of watching Ayden's class perform a song at assembly this morning. I just love seeing the way Ayden lights up and you can see how much he enjoys it - he turns into a little groover! It's the cutest thing...I find myself smiling so hard through the whole thing my cheeks hurt and my eyes water... so proud of him! (It's a mum thing. LOL) Even when they sing the school song there he is grooving away on the spot. His teacher gets a real kick out of it too. He's such a funny little thing!

Riley and Madi are great too. They've been playing together so well lately and it's so nice to see. Riley is being so much more patient with Madi and helping her, letting her play with his toys. Gotta love it!

Paul's back at work this week - only he was very disappointed that I had to work today as he missed out on a morning at Skirmish with his work mates! Ah well.... maybe next time. He did head out there with Madi and Riley in tow, but the guys gave him heaps, teasing him that he missed out on all the fun! Poor thing...

I've got so much I want to do over the next few weeks I just don't know how I'm going to fit it all in! Sewing, scrapping, shopping, wrapping, decorating... the list goes on! I think I need a plan.....and more than 24 hours in a day would help too! LOL

Hope everyone's got a great weekend planned! We're hoping to head on down to the beach and park tomorrow. It'll be nice to get out of the house together for some fresh sea air....

Thursday, November 6, 2008

We've had another big week here that's for sure! My little man turned 6!!!!! Ayden had such a great birthday...lots of Star Wars, Batman & Agents Lego prezzies this year and he (and Daddy) have had heaps of fun building cars & helicopters and things. I have to say that I was absolutely blown away when Paul offered to make the birthday cake this year and he did an amazing job on it too! Check it out!

A Star Wars stormtrooper of course! And I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been able to get it anywhere near that good. We spent the day over at Mum & Dad's place. Ayden was actually born on my Dad's birthday so they share the same day. Here they are both blowing out their candles together....

Ayden was so excited to have his cousins there to play with too. They played all day, swam in the pool and really enjoyed themselves. We had a bbq lunch and had a nice, relaxed day. It was Mum's birthday last week too. (Her and Dad's birthdays are two days apart.) Oct/Nov are very busy birthday months for us! Big HAPPY BIRTHDAYS all round!!!

We've had lots of other little things keeping us busy too...nothing too exciting though. Paul's on holidays at the moment so he's been doing a lot of tinkering in the garage on his helicopter project. I've been doing a bit of scrapping but not a lot I can share just yet. Here's a sneak peek though of my Christmas Ornaments class coming up on Monday 17 Nov at Sunbird Scrapbooking.If you'd like to come along just give the store a call on (07) 5520 5598. I'd love to see you there!

Here are last week's Scrap-a-Sketch class layouts too...

Madi's changed so much since these pics were taken! She was only about 6 months or so... little cutie!

And here's another from the week before that I didn't have scanned at the time...

I love seeing Ayden & Riley doing things like this together and helping each other. :)

So has everyone started their Christmas shopping yet? Hee hee hee... I can't believe it's November already.... Christmas will be here before we know it! I've already got a few lay-bys happening and I've started getting a few more things together in the last few days. I'm really trying to be more organised this year so I'm not running around at the last minute. At least I'm on my way....

Well, I hope everyone's got a great weekend planned! I'm working all weekend so that'll keep me busy but I'm hoping to squeeze in some scrapping or sewing in there somewhere...

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

I know.... I've been very slack updating my blog lately! Sorry... it's just been so busy around here! I've been flat out organising and creating my November classes for Sunbird Scrapbooking, plus I've caught the sewing bug now thanks to Janelle and her gorgeous patterns!

So here's a quick update about what we've been up to over the last week or so...

We took Riley to his Kindy enrolment day getting him ready for next year. He seems to really like the place (thank goodness!) and his new teacher seems sooo lovely. He's very proud of his new kindy hat (that we got on the day) and we ordered his kindy shirts (he chose green - his fave colour). We just hope he's still as keen by the time kindy starts in the new year!

We've also got Ayden all organised for school next year. Books are ordered, fees are paid, uniform is all set. All we need to do is buy him some new shoes. I can't believe we're so organised!

Madi got her very first 'big girl' bed! So that's it... no more cot at our place. (A little sad that our baby girl is growing so fast... where has the time gone?) She helped Daddy put the bed together, then helped me put all her pretty new sheets and pillows on it, then had an absolute ball jumping all over it! She was so funny to watch... we're just working on getting her to stay in it through the night now!

Mel and Leanne came around on Sunday for a sewing night. We chatted, sewed and ate way too many lollies. We've all definately caught the sewing bug!

Paul's on leave at the moment and has finally found time to tinker away in the garage on his helicopter project. He's in there right now banging away at something...

So that's about it for now. I've been missing visiting everyone's blogs lately too. I just haven't had any time at the computer! Hopefully I'll get there over the next few days.

I'll leave you with a layout I did a little while ago...enjoy the rest of your week!

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Grrrr.... COMPUTERS!!! When they're working they're awesome... when they start to play up they are the most frustrating things... and then you realise just how much you rely on them to stay in contact with the world!!!! Ours has been out of action for a few days and my very clever (and extremely patient) hubby has finally been able to load everything back on and get everything working again. (Thank goodness it wasn't left up to me!!! We'd still have no computer to use... disastrous!) Because of all the dramas we've actually lost all e-mails we've received over the past few weeks... so if you did e-mail me and I haven't replied please don't think I'm ignoring you!! LOL. Just send me another quick one and I'll get back to you asap.

So anyway... that's why I haven't updated my blog until now! So first off I'll start with a layout share. (Only one layout I'm afraid... we lost the scans of the other one from my class and now it's at the shop so I'll have to post that one here another time.....) This is from Wednesday's Scrap-a-Sketch class at Sunbird Scrapbooking...

Lots of hand-stitching on this one... and all those french knots took a while to do but was worth it I think.

I've also been doing a bit of sewing over the past week or so. Janelle has created some fabulous patterns and I couldn't wait to give them a go. If you haven't seen any of her work do yourself a favour and go and have a look at her blog. Her creations are SO beautiful and SO inspiring!!! I've made two of Janelle's Thelma journal cover so far. I'm thinking these will be perfect as teacher gifts at the end of the year...

Now I'm not a sewer so if I can make these then anyone can! I've never done any quilting before, or much sewing at all for that matter.... but I went onto You Tube to find some tutorials on slip stitching and how to do the binding and it really helped. Gotta love the internet!!! I'm planning on making more of these now...plus Janelle's about to release another pattern that includes instructions for another 4 journal covers! Can't wait for that one now...

Better go and see what the kids are up to... it's unusually quiet out there in the loungeroom at the moment....lol. Hope everyone's having a great weekend!

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Another week has flown by in a blur... I'm finding it so hard to keep up at the moment! Time for another quick blog update...

Here are the two layout examples from my Scrap-a-Sketch class at Sunbird Scrapbooking yesterday...(Hi girls!)

I absolutely LOVE the new Basic Grey Urban Prairie range and it was so much fun to use too! (It turned out that Madi is looking at the blue lady bug in both the small pics...hee hee hee)

I did a bit of stamping on the next one - both the journalling and the title. I'm not sure if you can see (try clicking on the layout to get a larger view) but I've used little orange french knots for each point in my journalled list.

On the home front...Ayden really enjoyed being home these holidays - although he was quite excited to go back and see his friends again. To finish the holidays, Paul took both the boys to see the Airshow out at the Amberley RAAF Base on Sunday. I would've tagged along but had to work that day... (I grew up in Amberley (Dad was in the RAAF) so it would've been kinda fun to check the place out again... I'm sure it would've brought lots of memories flooding back.) It turned out to be quite a hot day and in the end the boys didn't last as long as Paul had hoped. They did enjoy the time they had there though and came home telling me all about the jets and helicopters and things. Madi spent the day with Mum & Dad (Paul dropped her off on the way) and she got totally spoiled by Grandpa! A new Dora couch, a little Dora figurine and a little Dora watch... she was loving it! I think Grandpa really enjoyed having a day with just her... I was relieved to hear how great she was for them as she's never been left with anyone on her own before - usually the boys are right there with her. She had such a great time!

Monday was back to school for Ayden and he's right back in the swing of it. I've been working and doing classes all week so Paul has had lots of time on his days off home with Riley & Madi playing and doing all sorts of things together. They even got out to the park to fly a kite today! They've been loving their time with Daddy.

That's about all there is to tell at the moment. Paul and I are gearing up for a big night of viewing on TV tonight.... 2 hours of Heroes followed by Prison Break!! We'll be loving Thursday nights now. It'll get even better next Thursday when The Amazing Race starts again on the same night... LOVE it!!!

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

The kids have been having such a great time on school holidays... and it's been fun to see them all playing together every day. I have to admit I've loved not having to get up early to get organised for the school run each day too! We haven't really done anything major but we've had a few bbq's, trips to the pool and the park, shopping, the movies to see Wall-E, the beach and friends over to play. I can't believe holidays are nearly over already! Here are a few photos we took at Burleigh Beach the other day... We just couldn't keep the boys out of the water! They really do have so much fun...

Madi looks so cute in her new pink Dora swimmers... although she wasn't quite ready to test them out in the water... not too sure about that wet stuff! It took her a while to actually walk on the sand too! Funny little thing... but she still had fun and once she discovered her bucket and spade she was one happy girl!

I'm sure we'll squeeze a few more things into the holidays for the kids before school starts again...

In amongst all the holiday fun I've managed to fit it a little scrapping here and there. First of all here's a little birthday card I made for my friend Leanne last week. (We had her surprise 40th birthday dinner on the weekend - so much fun to see her reaction when she arrived to find us all there at her fave restaurant! Even better to see her face when her Mum came around the corner!!!)

Here's a layout I did a few weeks back on Paul & Madi using some of my fave October Afternoon papers...

And finally, my two examples from today's Scrap-a-Sketch class at Sunbird Scrapbooking... (Check out the new October timetable! There are so many classes to chose from and we'd love to see you there!)

So I guess that's it from me today! Enjoy the rest of the school holidays! I know I'll be trying to sneak in a couple more sleep-ins before Monday! LOL!

Sunday, September 21, 2008

I know.... I've been really slack with my blog posts....It's just been such a crazy week this week!

We had a big birthday weekend last weekend for Riley... can't believe he's turned 4 already! He had such a great day on Saturday. It started with opening the prezzies (of course) and he got lots of new additions to his Thomas track... to say he was happy was an understatement. He said it was "the best birthday I ever seen!". LOL

So we spent some time at home throughout the morning so he could play, then we headed over to 2BKids (an indoor ball play/climbing/play centre). All three of the kids had such a fun time! We came home (exhausted) in the afternoon for dinner and cake. Then on the Sunday Mum & Dad came down for a BBQ for a second birthday celebration! They brought along more fun prezzies (including another cool bridge addition for his track) and he was so excited! We ate, played and had another birthday cake! Before we knew it his birthday weekend was all over... although his new and improved Thomas track has been getting quite a workout ever since! He loves it...

The rest of my week has been spent working, running classes, getting organised for October classes and doing things with the kids while attempting to keep up with the housework (although I think I was failing dismally in that department! LOL) I ran a card class on Monday night at Sunbird Scrapbooking. It was a lot of fun and I met 3 lovely ladies.... Then I had another Scrap-a-Sketch class on Thursday... so nice to see some new faces coming along too! Here are my 2 layout examples from the class...

The new class timetable for October will be out shortly on the Sunbird website. There are HEAPS of classes scheduled throughout the month with not only myself, but Leanne, Trish and Sue too so keep an eye out! We'd love to see you there!

Here's another layout I haven't posted here yet. It appeared in Scrapbooking Memories a couple of months back.

I love this photo of my Dad and Ayden catching forty winks together. It was taken on their birthday (they share the same birthday!) and obviously the celebrations wore them out! LOL!

Friday morning at school we hung around for the morning assembly as Ayden's class was performing a (very cute) song! I'd love to share the pics but the usual story... don't have all the other kids' parent's permission... but here's one of Ayden just before it...

He's wearing a t-shirt instead of his uniform shirt 'cause they had Wacky Shirt day to raise money for charity. He also wore the bandana and some shades for his part in the performance! Very cool! Then to top off a great morning, Ayden was awarded ANOTHER award!!! His 3rd for the year! This one was for his kindness and perserverance in class! We're so very proud of our little man!!! We're so glad we were there to see him get his one after missing out last time...

I know this is turning into quite a long post... but I just wanted to get the following couple of things down so I don't forget them...

The other morning when Riley was taking his shoes off at the front door he came running in to where I was in the kitchen shouting..."Mum! Mum! There's a crab on my shoe!!" I said "A crab?" He said "Yes Mum, come ON!!" I was so intrigued to see what the 'crab' was... and when he showed me this is what it was...

It was just a prickle! But obviously to him it looked just like a crab... too funny! There was no way he was going to touch it either way. LOL!

Madi has her first ever painted toenails! She's ever so proud of them too...(not a very good photo sorry!)

I was painting mine the other morning and as soon as she saw me she ripped her shoes off, stuck her toes out, pointed at them saying, "Mum...pease? Mum... pease?" How could I resist? She does look very cute with her little painted toes and she's checking them out whenever she can! She's such a girl...

Anyway...I think that's about it!!? There's probably something I've missed and I'm sure I'll think of it later on... I've missed visiting everyone's blogs lately too but hopefully I'll get there over the next couple of days to catch up. Hope everyone has had a fantastic weekend!